Memphis Police Officer Accused of Abusing His Power

(Memphis) A Collierville man says he’s scared for his life and he can’t trust the police.

That’s because he says he was threatened by an off-duty officer with a gun and when he called for help, the situation got worse.

Michael Montgomery says when the man on a motorcycle threatened him, he wrote down his license plate number.

WREG ran the plate numbers Thursday and it came back belonging to a police officer in a North Memphis precinct.

On Germantown Parkway, Montgomery says it all started with this:

“I saw two motorcyclists driving recklessly,” he said.

He says at a red light he told the motorcycle riders to start behaving or he would call 911.

“One gentleman lifted up his motorcycle jacket and showed me his handgun on the side and proceeded to tell me ‘he was the police’,” he said

Montgomery says they sped away but he memorized the man’s license plate number and then called 911.

He says he then got a phone call about a half hour later, “It was the gentleman on the motorcycle again threatening me that if he sees me in Memphis I better watch my back because he is going to “f” me up.”

Montgomery says somehow, the man was able to get his phone number from police dispatch and then call him from a blocked number.

He says the incident has left him in utter fear, “He knows what kind of car I drive. He was able to get my cell phone number. What else can he get?”

The Memphis Police Department identifies the officer as Darrell Malone.

In an email we were told,”Malone advised that he was traveling northbound Germantown Parkway when he, and other motorcyclist, were cut off by a motorist that was occupying a SUV which was also traveling north bound Germantown Parkway. Malone advised that he attempted to flag the motorist to alert the driver that the motorcyclists were in the lane next them him. Malone advised that he did have a weapon holstered on his side and that the driver may have seen his weapon while he was trying to flag the complainant.”

Malone’s personnel file shows he joined the department in January 2010.

There are no infractions on his work record.

“It’s a complete abuse of power,” said Montgomery. “He stepped across a line that shouldn’t be stepped across.”

According to the Memphis Police, Internal Affairs is now investigating.